Big Fish Editor's Choice! This title was chosen for its high standard of quality and amazingly positive reviews from our Game Club beta testers.

Your father’s illness has taken a turn for the worse. Now only the fabled Rose of Life can cure him, but it grows only in a kingdom far from your home. And you aren’t the only one after it. The powerful witch Claudine craves its rejuvenating powers, and has stolen it from a prince, cursing his kingdom. She’ll stop at nothing to make sure she’s the only one who can use the Rose. Team up with the prince and work together to stop Claudine. Your father’s life, and the lives of the prince and his subjects, hangs in the balance.
See what our Beta testers had to say:

“Graphics were stunning! The story line was fun and intriguing. Overall I would rate this game 5 stars and recommend it to everyone!” - Lana, Beta Tester

“Absolutely loved it! Another 5 star game with high variations in HOS types and logical progressions!” - Anne, Beta Tester

Free Jonathan and his servants from Claudine’s beastly curse.

Collect butterflies, portraits, and magical objects hidden throughout the game.

Customer Reviews

Dark Romance: Heart of the Beast Collector's Edition
4
5
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49

Beauty & The Beast?
Beatrice is having a little bit of difficulty trying to fulfill her fathers dying request, to find the Rose of Life, so he doesn't have to die! The Rose of Life is a magical flower that can cure any illness, however, Beatrice isn't the only person who seeks this life giving flower. Claudine, an aging witch has already taken possession of the rose, and has cast a spell upon it's true owner, Prince Jonathan, once a handsome young man, now neither man nor beast! If Beatrice hadn't found an all revealing frame, she would never have realized that Claudine turned everyone into animals, and that Jonathan has been sold to the Circus as the main (or is it mane lol) attraction!
Dark Romance has a very unique feature, in order to progress, you must switch between characters. You will start out playing the character Beatrice, and then click on Jonathan's portrait to play the game from his perspective. It's incredible how you are able to play from both characters perspective, flawlessly, even though I enjoyed the first Dark Romance because I love vampire stories, this is a great game in my opinion, but will probably be a love it or hate it kind of game overall. There are plus signs on some inventory items that usually require you to combine two inventory items together, with a small puzzle to complete before using the item. There are a ton of Achievements to earn, 10 Magic Objects (cauldrons etc) 26 Hidden Butterflies and Collectible Portraits of each character that Claudine turned into an animal.
The Hidden Object Scenes are incredibly varied, and you have the option of playing a Match 3 game instead of the Hidden Object Puzzles. There are progressive silhouetted shapes, where you find the first item that matches the silhouetted shape and use that item in the scene to expose the next item and so forth. The HOP I thought was creative required you to find a mushroom for a hedgehog to eat which made him move away from a lantern which would move to light up another section which revealed another animal, each animal you fed resulted eventually to light up the entire scene, and then you received a list of items to find with some slight interactions such as opening a purse or moving a blanket. The Mini games range from quick puzzles to solve such as putting correct shapes needed to complete a butterfly sketch, to longer puzzles such as using rotation buttons to move a tile with Jonathan's picture, to the Castle opening, avoiding obstacles along the way that the tile couldn't access. All puzzles were extremely easy, in fact most of them can be figured out without even reading the instructions!
This Collectors Edition has music, Art, Wallpapers, 26 Hidden Butterflies, 10 Magic Objects, Collectible Character Portraits, Achievements, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
April 23, 2015

This game is off the hook!
Based on the beta version. The 3D graphics alone was something to admire. The VO's were simply amazing, I loved the main character. In this one you will be switching between the main character Beatrice, and the Beast. As you will see at the beginning of the game, you will get this magic frame to see who the animals actually are. Your collectibles are butterflies, pictures and magic objects.
Story: The story opens with your sick dad on what appears to be his death bed. He asks you, (his daughter) to bring him the back the fabled rose. It can cure any disease or illness out. One problem though. The nasty old witch wants it for herself to keep your 'beauty'. What beauty I don't know because she has more wrinkles than a prune, and her face looks like it's been hit by a Mack truck. So I don't know how she thinks the rose will help. Neither would a full makeover. But the way it seems you will have to get it from her to save your dad. And the story goes.
Graphics: Again gorgeous! I simply just sat and looked at it for a few. I have an HD screen, so the flowers looked like they were going to come out of it.
Music: Beautiful. Really enjoyed listening to it. Went nicely along with the game.
Map: Pink button-You are here, Green button-Available locations, & Red exclamation point-Available actions. Also note on the map you can check or uncheck whether you want the available actions to show on the map or not, and the same with the collectibles. You will see a blue butterfly on the at a location.
Mini Games: These are really fun and original. They are strictly made for this game.
H0GS: So far one was collecting items and then putting them back in the scene to collect fireworks, another is you have an action to do before the list and a few others. Very nice variety.
Again, another game I am beyond impressed with. I highly recommend this game.
April 23, 2015

A Beauty, A Beast and A Witch what more could you ask for?
The story starts with an elderly man in bed asking his daughter Beatrice, travel to a far away kingdom to find the Rose of Life so that he can be cured. Beatrice sets off for the kingdom but as she arrives she sees a witch stealing the Rose of Life and trying to drown a ???.!
This is a colourful game and easy on the eye, the music is appropriate, the voices are good including the lip sync. There?s also a really good range of characters - 19 in all.
Levels: Casual, Advance, Hardcore, Custom and Timed Mode. Hint and Skip ranges from 15 to 90 seconds.
Length: 5 Chapters plus the Bonus Game.
Inventory: Lockable
Map: It?s a jump map which also shows the active areas.
HOS: There?s a wide range of them from very interactive to partially interactive and I really liked them all. A Match 3 game can be played instead.
Mini Games/Puzzles: All very good, some were variations on games we?ve seen before and other were new, they started off being relatively easy to solve but as the game went on they were a bit harder to solve. However one of these has completely the wrong instructions for solving it, it appears during the demo and takes place in the Big Top. Hint - You do not place the tiles in the top right hand corner - look more to the centre and you will see it.
Magic Mirror: You find this at the beginning and it stays in your inventory throughout the game and in the Bonus Game.
Extras: Music, Art and Wallpapers.
Achievements: 7
Collectibles: Quite a few.
Butterflies: 26 from easy to fairly hard to find.
Magic Objects: 10 all random items and none of them morph
Pictures: 15 all are of the characters, very easy to find.
They are not part of the game play but we can interact with certain things in some scenes, i.e. click on the frog and he jumps into the pond.
The Bonus Game was good too with the same heroes but with a different baddie, and it was a reasonable length.
April 23, 2015

Can Beatrice rescue the Rose of Life?
This Dark Romance is an enchanting tale with you playing as Beatrice, tasked by her dying father to bring him the Rose of Life. However, when you arrive at the remote land, you find the aging witch Claudine has stolen the Rose, and turned its true owner Prince Jonathan, into a Beast. And all his servants are animals as well!
The dog/butler Jackson gives you a Magic Frame, that lets you see the animals in their true form. He also gives you the Spell of True Path, that lets you play an easy mini-game of assembling butterflies, and leads you to Jonathan's castle - now inhabited by Claudine. It seems Jonathan has been turned into a beast, given to a circus, and controlled by an obelisk. You solve various puzzles to be able to destroy the obelisk, and just when you are about to free Jonathan -- the demo ends!
You get to play two characters in this game, and the switchng is seamless between Beatrice and Jonathan. The mini-games are easy, but fun. One of them involves moving a horse from his stable to the castle, using a variety of items -- including ice skates to get the horse across the snow! The HOS are interesting as well. One involves feeding animals their favorite foods, found using a lantern that only lights up part of the scene as you work through it. You can play Match-3 instead of the HOS, if you prefer.
The collections include 26 butterflies that fill in a butterfly picture, 15 portraits of the characters with their animal reflections. Plus 10 magic objects with a sense of humor -- one of them is a set of financial tarot cards.
This is an entertaining game without a lot of blood or fighting - at least so far. I played for 65 minutes and it kept my interest. I don't think I used the Skip at all, and didn't need the hint during a HOS either. Try it and see for yourself!
April 23, 2015

A Great Twist on the Beauty and the Beast Theme
In Dark Romance Heart of the Beast you play the game as Beatrice who is on a mission to save her father who is dying. It is said that the Rose of Life that can be found in a distant kingdom will be able to save your father from the terrible illness that he is suffering and he implores you to find it for him. Just as you arrive at the castle where the rose is protected, an evil witch whisks it away along with your hope of saving your father.
The graphics are beautiful consisting of excellent hand-drawn artwork in the style that I love. It is nice to find a fantasy type game that is not drenched with tones of pink and purple and instead find a game that uses a wonderful intense and rich color palette. Not only are the graphics colorful, they are very crisp and clear except in scenes where a bit of mistiness is needed to enhance the story. I must admit that I really enjoyed clicking different items in each scene since they are not stagnant and many responded various ways when clicked. The sound package includes voiceovers that are generally very good although some did seem a bit dragged out and slow.
We have the standard tools that we normally find in HOPA games but we also have some unexpected other tools. I am not going to say that we have a pet helper in the game but we do have some animal helpers. Since I don?t want to give away too much, you will just need to try the demo for yourself to find out what you have available in your bag of tricks. There are even some special twists included in the game that certainly give us a different perspective.
There are various types of interactive HOPs, some are the standard list type and others are silhouette type. If you don?t want to find the various items in the HOPs you do have the option of a match 3 game, but I found the HOPS interesting and entertaining so chose to find the items. The mini puzzles are not at all difficult but sometimes I like the easy and fun ones just for a change. After a very recent complex game with difficult puzzles, the ones found in Heart of the Beast are a definitely easier and that is just fine for me right now.
The CE version of the game includes various collectibles to find, achievements to earn (groan) and all of the normal extra inclusions we expect to find. Because there are many different collectibles to find, some of which were quite a surprise, I think that Heart of the Beast is actually a very worthy CE value.
Although the package is beautiful and the game does have some interesting features, we once again are dealing with an evil witch and a fantasy type game. As much as I love these types of games, I am becoming tired of the worn out theme and long for a refreshing new storyline. As far as this type of game goes, Dark Romance Heart of the Beast is excellent and did eventually draw me in. I love some of the unique gameplay features and that is one of the reasons this game is one I will definitely add to my collection. As always, I recommend that you at least try the demo to see if this is a game you will like.
April 23, 2015

STUNNING BEAUTY
This is a visually magnificent game, I've seen nothing like it on the scale of detail and interactive environment. Every scene breathes with a life of its own.
The play mechanics are interesting as well. As the story progresses you switch characters, between the female protagonist and the cursed prince. It's handled so well that it's very enjoyable and it all fits within the context of the story. The switching of characters occurs at regular intervals, essentially giving you two quests to complete.
The map clearly defines where your progress has been, and points you to areas where you can affect something that will move the story forward.
There are a wide variety of different characters in the story, each with a well developed personality. The hidden object scenes occur frequently and are very detailed without being overly difficult, the puzzles are likewise moderate in difficulty and will only take a few minutes at most to complete. You also have the option in the hidden-object scenes to play a match-3 game instead of completing the hidden object screen.
I love this game, it's not just a game its an experience.., very entertaining and captivating with a touching storyline very reminiscent of the Beauty And the Beast tale with a twist to it.
April 26, 2015

An Excellent Hidden Object Game with A Neat Surprise
I've been able to expect the offerings of Big Fish Games to be high in quality and entertainment value. This particular demo (I have not yet purchased the game,) was no exception. The use of color and sound were marvelous, and the story-line provides an interesting twist on the traditional Beauty and the Beast story.
I don't believe I'm giving anything away by telling you how pleased I was with the innovation of being able (even required at times,) to play either as Beatrice (the heroine) or the Beast (in this story the victim of a scheming witch).
I was completely enthralled by the game play, and would purchase this game at the earliest opportunity. Thanks Big Fish!
April 24, 2015

Different Beauty & Beast (based on demo casual level)
I'm hooked on these romance/fantasy games and this one I'm tempted to buy without a sale. It's been a long time since I was so tempted, so it's a definite buy for me.
The graphics are wonderful and the storyline so far is interesting as well as the voiceovers of the characters. The only thing that bothers me about the storyline is that her father appears so old you would expect that it was his time to go. Every daughter wouldn't want her father to die, but would expect it if the parent was very old; to make the story more credible he should have appeared a bit younger. That said here is my list:
1--graphics are very colorful and not dark, voiceovers great as they fit the characters
2--transporter map (beam me up Scotty#, with indications for butterfly collectibles, tasks to accomplish
3--Magic frame to transform animals back to humans to get clues to continue story and some also assist you in tasks
4--magic items to find as well as portraits
5--achievements to earn
6--two characters to play as, the beast and Beatrice in order to continue the game
7--some puzzles lead to the HOS scenes, so you solve the puzzle first then do the HOS
8--if you don't want to do the HOS you can switch to match-3
9--puzzles appear to be easy in beginning, not sure if they become more difficult as you go on in the game
10--usually bonus features, music, wallpapers, concept art, guide and bonus game
When the demo ended, I still had 35 minutes left to play and I could've kicked myself as I felt it ended too soon, which is a good indication to me that it's a buy.
That said #I do have the 1st Dark Romance game) different people have different tastes and everyone should give this game a try you never know you might just feel as I did. I am hooked on these types of games and wish they made more of them.
April 24, 2015

Like sweet and sour
There are a lot of new and different aspects to this game. Some things are way too easy, while other aspects had me going to the strat guide. If I fault it, it is that the reason one has to go to the guide is that there is no reason for having to put the thing where it must be put in order to continue with the game. There is a magic frame that lets one discover when a character has been transformed by magic into an animal and then the character lets you know things that add to the story and progress of the game. This is pretty simple, but adds a layer to the story that is enjoyable.
Another negative is that some things are difficult to see in the Hidden object areas and also outside of them because the picturing is so intense and full. Yet the scenes are, while not fantasy beautiful, they are interesting and not gruesome or filthy and are good to look at.
The hint never worked. I do not know what is with that. That is what forced me to the SG and even that does not fully clarify what one has to do, so expect to fumble about a lot.
Somehow, while I can list all these negatives, there was enough that was interesting and different that sour was modified by the sweet and I ended up liking the game a lot.
There are butterflies to find in all scenes and those are not always easy. There are also portraits that are really too easy to find also. There are magic objects that are totally unexpected...they do not morph, but they are as surprising.
I would like to know if any of these to be found things are in a scene and some way to know if they have not been found. I would like Devs to do that so we know to keep looking or that we have found them all. Please...!
There did not seem to be a way to skip things...so one seems to be required to get the game done to move on. There is the option to do a match three instead of HO game, but I hate match three...what do you people enjoy about those? I'd really like to know...message me ...
In order to make a key to the stable, one has to put the key together and then do a game to put the parts in the right place. I mention this because that is how one proceeds regularly, there is always a puzzle to do as one gets parts to get on with the adventure.
You get to play as two characters, Beatrice, who is the ongoing protagonist of the game and as a Prince who has been turned into a beast. The demo ends with Beatrice having to destroy an obelisk to free the prince from the beast magic. Her action is stopped by the wicked guy who has turned the prince into the beast and she is imprisoned...just so we can have a longer game...LOL
I did not like the easy find the parts of a butterfly in order to know the path, but I did like the very unusual and interactive HO scenes. I was thoroughly stumped for a while not knowing what to do because one does not only have to find the things in the list, there are things to do within the scene that have zero to do with the things on the list, but one can not find them until these actions are accomplished. The titles sometimes give a clue that these things are to be done, but not always...so it is a bit of a puzzle...that I am warning you about so that you will not get too frustrated...at the whole, I really enjoyed the game, and would have enjoyed it more, if I had read this review first...so I hope this really helps.
Try it...and I think you will enjoy it..and this will be a CE to buy...because you really need that SG...LOL why do the hints not work? O well it is an adventure getting through this for sure.
April 23, 2015

AMAZING!
DARK ROMANCE WILL RENEW YOUR SPIRIT FOR HOGS. IT'S SIMPLY MAGICAL.THE STORYLINE WOVEN SO WELL,THE BEAST, THE WITCH, AND BEATRICE BRING THE SORY TO LIFE.ARTWORK LOVLEY, SOUND GREAT. LOVE THE ANIMALS.I PURCHASED BEFORE FINISHING THE TRAIL.I THINK MOST EVERYONE WOULD LIKE DARK ROMANCE HEART OF THE BEAST!
April 23, 2015